Sealing assembly



Feb. 21, 1939.

F, F. B RUCKER SEALING ASSEMBLY Filed Marc ah 5, 1957 Patented Feb. 21, 1939 2,148,101

UNITED STATES PATENT orrics some ASSEMBLY Ferdinand F. Bracket, Akron, Ohio, assignor a The B. F. Goodrich Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application March 3, 1937, Serial No. 128,733

'6 Claims. (Cl. 285-163) This invention relates to sealing assemblies in The assembled packing elements and wedge ring which the space is sealed between concentric rigid are placed in the space I! between the pipe memmembers such as sections of a pipe line of bell bers with the thicker edge of the wedge foremost and spigot joint pipe. r or toward the bottom of the space l2. The pro- 5 The principal objects of the invention are to portions are such that in this position the pack- 5 provide simplicity of structure, to provide efliing element I4 will engage the inner surface of the ciency of sealing, to provide accuracy of posibell l and the packing element i 5 will engage tioning of the sealing structure in the joint, and the outer surface of the spigot I I. Where, as to provide facility of handling and positioning in the preferred construction, the web lGis formed the parts. These and other objects will appear integrally with the packing elements, of soft vul- 10 from the following description and the accom- -canized rubber or other material having similar panying drawing. physical properties, any resistance to passage of Of the drawing: the packing elements into the space l2, such'as .Fig. Us a sectional elevation of a joint between ul be caused y Partial Obstruction o t bell and spigot members of a pipe line showing space I 2, will result in stretching of the web so as 15 the sealing structure in place, parts of the sealing to permit movement of the wedge ring with relastructure and the pipe members being broken tion to the packi elements in a direction which away. permits movement of the packing elements to- Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the assembled ward each other. Such movement however will sealing structure, parts of the structure being so tension he web as to re urn he p ckin el 20 broken away and parts shown in section to illusm n to their original positions after the obtrate it structure, struction is passed, or, where the. obstruction is Fig. 3 is a radial cross-sectional view of the n p wi l n to p v n ny r at dissealing structure of Fig. 2, showing one form of pl cem nt axi y f h p pe f e packing the invention with the parts in the positions relaments w respect 0 e t qualization 25 tive to each other which they assume before the 0f the tension in the inner and outer reaches Of member is inserted i the joint, the web l5 and consequent adjustment of the Fig. 4 is a similar view of another form of the p i l m n is m v ly l zed invention, 1 where the wedge ring is made of slightly deforma- Fig. 5 is a similar view showing a further form ble material such as semi-herd rubber, as the 30 of the i v ti wedge ring may be then locally deflected to as- Referring to the drawing, the numeral Ill desigs in automatic Positioning of e peeking hates the bell of one section of pipe, and H the ment Where e p pe is slightly out of round or spigot of an adjacent section. An annular space Slight local deformities Present n e surface i2 is provided between the bell and spigot and is thereof.

utilized to enclose thesealing member. In pipe After the assembled sealing structure has been of ceramic material or metal, considerable varia- Placed in po t n, application of fi p s llre t in dimensions and shape often occurs, to the line will cause the wedge ring to be pressed The sealing member, in the form illustrated in toward the open end of the space I2 causing the 40 Figs. 1 to 3, comprises an annular ring l3, havpacking elements to roll upon the web 5 along 40 ing inner and outer conical surfaces of nonthe conical surfaces of the Wedge. Such rolling parallel relation to each other providing a ring motion causes the margins of the web to be wedge shaped in cross section, and a pair of fiexi- Wou d ar u e packing elements as o n ble annular packing elements I, I5 adapted to p fl e and the increasing c ness of the roll upon the outer and inner conical surfaces packing elements caused thereby together with 5 of the ring l3 and held in place by a connecting their rolling movement toward the thicker edge web IE extending around the thicker margin of of the wedge ring causes them to exert more and the wedge ring and preferably comprising a conmore pressure against the surfaces of the bell tinuous annular pocket adapted to embrace the and spigot, thereby increasing the sealing preswedge ring and attached to'the packing elements sure as the fluid pressure increases. 50 M, iii, the' arrangement being such that when In order to decrease the initial resistance to. the thicker edge of the wedge ring is inserted in rolling of the packing elements, they may be the annular pocket the web, l6 will position the formed of sheet material coiled upon itself as packing members i4, I5 equidistantly from the at l'l in Fig. 4 with the material in adjacent 5d thicker edge of the wedge ring.

turns thereof unadhered to each other. The coils may be formed of continuations of the sheet which comprises the adjacent web l6. To prevent adhesion during manufacture, the margins of the web may be heavily dusted with powdered soapstone or mica and the margins rolled upon themselves to form the coiled packing members before vulcanization. After vulcanizattion the material will retain its coiled form.

In the modification shown in Fig. 'each of the packing elements l8, I8 is formed with an independent web 20, 2|. Each of these webs is attached along its free margin to the wedge ring 22 by a layer of cement, as at 23 leaving the margin adjacent the packing member unattached and free to be rolled about the packing element. In this form the wedge ring may be of metal or of semi-hard rubber as in the other forms of the device.

I claim:

1. Sealing means for an annular fiuid passage comprising an annular sealing member tapered in cross-section in an axial direction and adapted to be driven in an axial direction with its thinner portion forward by the fluid pressure, a pair of annular sealing members engaging the outer and inner surfaces respectively of the said tapered sealing member and adapted to be rolled on annular axes by relative movement between said tapered sealing member and the walls defining the fluid passage, and a web of pliablematerial connecting said sealing members and extending about the thicker portion of said sealing member.

2. Sealing means for an annular fluid passage comprising an annular sealing member tapered in cross-section in an axial direction and adapted to be driven in an axial direction with its thinner portion forward by the fluid pressure, a pair of annular deformable sealing members engaging the outer and inner surfaces respectively of the said tapered sealing member and adapted to be pressed respectively against annular zones of said annular member in said the walls defining said passage by relative movement between said tapered sealing member and said walls, and a web of flexible material connecting said annular sealing members and extending about the thicker portion of said tapered sealing member, the tapered sealing member being formed of flexible material such as to permit it to accommodate itself to an out of round condition of one or both of the walls defining the annular passage.

3. Means for sealing an annular fluid passage between two members, said means comprising an annular ring of wedge shaped cross-section adapted to be driven axially with its thinner end foremost by the fluid pressure, and a web of material extending around the thicker margin of the wedge ring and provided at the outer and inner faces of the wedge ring with rolled margins adapted to be engaged between the faces of the wedge ring and the faces of the members.

4. A pipe joint assembly comprising a pair of telescope-d pipe members defining an annular space therebetween communicating with the interior of the pipe members, an annular cam mem-' ber located in and movable along said space axially of the pipe under the pressure of fluid within the pipe and having at least one axially inclined face opposed to the surface of one of the pipe members, a rollable annular resilient sealing element in said space between the inclined face of the annular member and the surface of the pipe, and means secured to said cam member for initially locating said sealing element axially of annular space.

5. A pipe joint assembly as defined by claim 4 in which the annular cam member is made of pliable material.

6. A pipe joint assembly as defined by claim 4 in which the means for initially locating said sealing element is a flexible apron on said sealing element and engaging said annular member.

FERDINAND F. BRUCKER. 

